


Coffee Shop

by Beth Harker (chiana606), chiana606



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 06:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1888443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiana606/pseuds/Beth%20Harker, https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiana606/pseuds/chiana606
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaylee and Inara.  Standard coffee shop AU.  Modern era.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [colls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/colls/gifts).



Kaywinnet Lee Frye was poor as dirt. She was the kind of girl who worked hard to make end’s meet, but that didn’t mean she was unlucky, either. Things had seemed uncertain when, at the age of seventeen and a half, she’d given up all hopes of advanced schooling and taken on a series of odd jobs to support herself and her family, but it had all turned out better than anyone could’ve guessed. She had a gift. That’s what folks said. That’s why she could fix anything from thirty year old badly rigged up motorbikes, to the fanciest hoity-toity new computers and phones that rich folk could afford, and she couldn’t. Her abilities brought in a pretty penny, but it still wasn’t often that she treated herself. 

Mostly Kaylee worked in an old garage, that was willing to take in work from people that her dad would describe as “less than savory”, which was to say that her customers were all criminals and crooks, the lot of them, though mostly not the very bad kind. Kaylee got on well with most of them, even Jayne, who everybody said was as stupid as he was dangerous, and nobody a sweet girl like her should be hanging around with. 

So yeah. Work was good. Her job was fun, and Mal, the garage owner, treated her like family. That was enough for the likes of her, and then some. The only problem was that she liked to feel like a girl sometimes, and the rough and tumble people she worked with day in and day out hardly seemed to see her as one. Even Simon, when she tried to flirt with him, would run from hot to cold in the most confusing way, which left her hardly knowing what to do.

That’s why Kaylee was so stoked when Inara suggested a girls’ night out at a local coffee shop that ad just opened. Zoe was too busy (typical. She was married, in addition to being fierce, amazing, and Mal’s right-hand lady), but Kaylee suspected that ‘Nara had invited her specifically, because she needed it. Inara was wonderful like that. She could just read people. She didn’t even work at the garage. She rented a room above it at a good price, and did her own kind of work, but she always came down to talk to Kaylee and the rest of them. 

On the night of her coffee date, Kaylee got herself up real nicely. She even cleaned up her nails, as best she could. The almost always seemed to chip, and fill up with dark crescents of engine grease that stuck like tar to their undersides, but she filed them and painted them dark red. They’d be a mess again within a day, but they looked nice tonight. She even found a glittery top coat that she’d bought back in eighth grade, and applied about six layers of that. Kaylee liked things that sparkled. 

As for clothes, Kaylee splurged on this pink thing she’d seen in a shop, all ruffles and lace, just like she liked best, and on sale for twenty dollars. She chose red shoes to match her nails, flats, because no matter how much she wanted to look nice, walking in heels wasn’t something she did, and looking pretty wasn’t any fun at all if you didn’t also get to be comfortable.

Kaylee wanted to curl her hair, but by the time she got around to that, she was already starting to think she might run late. She stuck to just blow drying it, and it had a bit of a natural curly any how. She tied it up with a red bow, and got started on her make up, nothing too fancy, just a dash of lipstick and a swipe of mascara, and maybe a little too much blush, but Kaylee loved the stuff and it was a nice change from the engine dirt and engine grease and usually high lighted her cheek bones. 

When she was finally dressed and ready, Kaylee did a little twirl in the mirror and went downstairs to wait for Inara. The other woman was perfectly punctual, and perfectly dressed, which was exactly like her. She always did stuff perfectly. Inara was so pretty and elegant that Kaylee practically felt like a little girl playing dress-up next to her. 

“You look lovely,” Inara said, and Kaylee felt herself blush. 

“So do you. You look… lovelier than lovely!”

Inara just smiled, and reached up to adjust Kaylee’s bow. 

“Shall we be going?” Inara asked. “It isn’t far from here, and it’s a nice night to walk.” 

Kaylee nodded, and on the walk to the little coffee shop, she and Inara talked about their lives and their work days… or at least Kaylee did. Inara asked questions mostly, but in the nicest way, the kind of way that made you feel at ease. That was what Inara did in her line of work, among other things. Kaylee worried about that briefly, but then she remembered that Inara had been the one to invite her out tonight. Everything had been the other woman’s idea. Kaylee began to ask some questions of her own, nice ones, not the prying kind that guys like Mal loved to ask, and Inara answered graciously. 

The coffee shop was everything Kaylee could’ve hoped for. It was called Coffee Labs, and had pictures of dogs on the wall, and two actual Labrador Retrievers running around the place. Kaylee didn’t know what to order, but Inara suggested a vanilla late for her, and this strawberry mouse desert that was like eating a slice of heaven. Kaylee chowed down on this while Inara sipped tea, and they talked, and they were happy. 

Kaywinnet Lee Frye was the kind of girl who worked hard to make end’s meet, but that didn’t mean she was unlucky, either. She was just about one of the luckiest girls to have ever walked the earth. And sure, she didn’t treat herself often, but when she did, it was worth the wait.


End file.
